Chapter Text
The house he was in was comfortable enough, especially in an apocalyptic situation. Stocked potatoes, canned beans and tuna, clean running water despite the scorching hot sun, and housemates who may or may not be the living dead. He still lived in comforting silence. Well, it would have been if it weren't for the constant cold he was in. No matter how many layers, jackets, or levels of heat, Coat Guy found his teeth chattering and his hands shaking pale. Maybe the endless black hole of a void in his stomach was to blame, or maybe it was the fact he was long since dead, crawling out of the ground from a coffin and trying to fit into the normal world whilst its ending isn’t easy. “After all, a c-corpse is still a corpse whether buried or not.” He found himself muttering to the wind most nights. His thin, bony body would shake yet covered in sweaters, coats, mittens, and thick fluffy socks given from the Homeowner after complaining about feeling like he's freezing to death. Coat Guy didn’t find them helpful, but he liked not having his toes turn radish-purple.
Tonight was similar to any other night. He’d move from his spot to lay on the carpet, find as many blankets as he could without stealing from others (he learned that the hard way) , pet the cat and try to sleep. He usually didn’t get very far, because trying to rest whilst having your body nearly feeling clinically frozen is an awful, dreadful feeling. As he lay on the ground, picking at his ripped out, bloody fingernails, a muffled sob was heard from the storage room.
At first, Coat Guy thought he was imagining it. Maybe a voice wishing to be heard. But after nearly a full minute of this sobbing, he got up to check.
“I s-swear I hear sobbing..” He quietly remarked to himself, tiptoeing closer and closer to the storage room. The house was completely silent, despite these muffled cries. From what Coat Guy had seen, it was only him and 3 other guests in the house. One he wasn’t sure about, and the second was Cashier Girl, Third was the Widow. As his creeping got closer to the door, he found himself hesitating.
“Am I making a mistake? What if they want to be left alone?” Coat Guy thought to himself, he saw his shaky hands grip the doorhandle, questioning whether he should check or not. Despite his anxiousness, he turned the knob to be met with a very…. Interesting sight.
Cashier Girl laying dead and bloody on the ground, and an extremely distressed and crying man met his sight. Coat Guy’s pupils dilated, fixated on the situation in front of him. At first, he assumed the man was sobbing about the dead Visitor. This was until he saw the man muffle a scream and rapidly point at his lips, which were bruised and bloody with thick cut wire sewn through them. Coat Guy stepped back, as seeing the wire needled through the man's lips was a gruesome sight, and Coat Guy let out a small gasp, clapping his hands to his mouth.
“O-oh my, are you okay…?” He conceded, his voice cracking with nervousness.
"MMMMHHH!!" Wireface tried to shout, but wincing back from the sting of his bloody lips. He had tears flowing down his cheeks and uncomfortable body language.
Coat Guy stepped forward, grabbing a pair of scissors from a slightly open box and trying to explain to the man he was not going to hurt him. “Can I help you..?” Coat Guy asked, but he was met with a confused expression from the other, and his head tilted slightly. Coat Guy kneeled in front of the man and grabbed his chin with his cold hands, holding him steady. “Xlow..” [Cold..] Wireface thought to himself, noticing the shiver coming from the man across from him. Coat Guy gently snipped the first clump of wire, being extremely careful to not cut the man’s lips more than they were. That seemed to go smoothly, but as Coat Guy tried to take out the wire, Wireface sharply inhaled and flinched from pain.
“S-sorry, I’m so sorry..” Coat Guy shamefully murmured, not even sure if Wireface could understand him. He threw the bloody wire into a nearby trashcan, and got back to snipping.
Coat Guy noticed that Wireface started bleeding again, and made a “Wait” symbol before quietly rushing to the bathroom, seeing if he could find a cloth to wash Wireface’s lips. As he was walking out of the storage closet. He wondered why he’d offered to help the man. Maybe he felt bad? Or was he feeling nice this particular day? Well, whatever, the point was to clean his bloody wounds. He speedwalked into the bathroom, and gently pushed the door open, making sure it wasn't occupied.
As he walked in, he saw the widowed woman caressing her dead husband’s hand, but stopped once she saw Coat Guy. “Oh, hello.” She muttered quietly, looking away from the concerned man in front of her. Maybe she stopped out of shame, or maybe the fact she didn’t want another man to see, Coat Guy figured it was both. “Sorry to bother, b-but the guy in the storage closet is bleeding.. Do you know if there's a w-washcloth here somewhere?” Coat Guy asked, trying to seem calm. “On top of the washing machine, there's a purple one somewhere…. I'm pretty sure it's clean, since the homeowner washed it..” Widow replied, pointing to the washer and dryer. “Oh, thanks..” He said, seeing the small towel placed on top of the washer, grabbing both the cloth and some disinfectant. He placed the towel under the bathroom faucet and got it damp, before giving a thumbs up to the widow and walking out.
Coat Guy carried his supplies towards the storage room, making sure to be quiet. He opened the door, finding Wireface sitting on the floor, knees to his chest. Coat Guy noticed the tear stains across his cheeks before anything else. “L-ls, blf'iv yzxp!! Gszmp blf uli svokrmt nv, R dzh rm z olg lu kzrm. [O-oh, you're back! Thank you for helping me, I was in a lot of pain.]” Wireface gleefully exclaimed, trying to smile while also not making his wounds worse. Coat Guy tilted his head. “I can't u-understand you..” He sighed. “I apologize.” Nevertheless, he put the disinfectant on top of a box and grabbed the towel, and started dabbing and swiping at Wireface’s lips.
It surprisingly wasn’t too painful, but it had a bit of a sting. Wireface tried his best to stay still, letting the cold man across from him clean him up. Cold. He was so cold. His hands were callused and felt like ice, yet his touch was feather light. His hands were so shaky, so unsure. But yet, Wireface felt so safe, so cared for. His body didn’t jerk back once Coat Guy would hold his chin, or stare at his lips. He felt.. normal. Like he didn’t need to hide.
“Hey, um..” Coat Guy mumbled, tapping Wireface's shoulder. “This might ache a bit.’ He said, whilst trying to make signs with his hands to indicate it would hurt. Wireface looked a bit puzzled, but still gave him a thumbs up. Coat Guy hoped his message got across, and put down the bloody cloth before getting the disinfectant and pouring some onto said cloth. He grabbed Wireface’s chin a bit closer to his eyes so he could see better. The first few swipes were painful. Wireface was trying his best to stay still but sometimes he couldn’t help but curse under his breath. He flinched as Coat Guy dabbed at his wounds. “Ufxp, lfxs! [Fuck, ouch!]” After the initial cleaning was done, it wasn’t so bad. Sure, it burned a bit, but before both of them even knew it was over.
“We’re d-done.” Coat Guy said, giving a thumbs up and pointing at his own lips. Wireface let out a dramatic gasp which made Coat Guy giggle, and Wireface walked quickly to the bathroom. He pushed open the door, noticing the lady was asleep and looked at himself in the mirror. “R... gsrh rh gsv urihg grnv R'ev zxgfzoob orpvw sld R ollpvw hrmxv gsrh dslov nvhh hgzigvw.. [I... this is the first time I've actually liked how I looked since this whole mess started..]” Wireface squeaked, his eyes lighting up at seeing the clean, non bloody wounds for the first time in who knows how long.
“Ls, gszmp blf! Gszmp blf! [!Oh, thank you! Thank you!!]” He gushed, wrapping his arms around Coat Guy. Coat Guy’s eyes widened, feeling Wireface’s warm body around his own. It made him feel just a bit better.
“W-warm..” He muttered, pulling Wireface closer to him, despite physical touch usually making him uncomfortable. He felt loved, pulled into this other man’s embrace.
Everything seemed fine. Just for a while. Two men held together, as if the sun wasn't burning everything down and people were crawling up from the ground.
Just for a while.